Reidblog [The Reid Report blog]

Indeed, al-Zarqawi's attacks on Shiite civilians in Iraq have been a point of conflict between his group and bin Laden.

Bin Laden has refrained from attacking Shiites despite the fact that his fundamentalist Sunni strain, called Wahhabi or sometimes called Salafist — like al-Zarqawi's — also considers Shiites as heretics.

"He (bin Laden) may, as an austere Salafist, have no particular love for Shiites or Hezbollah. But I'm not aware that he's ever singled them out for specific criticism," Evans said.

With al-Zarqawi himself gone and despite the vow to carry on his work, Ibrahim Bayram, a Lebanese journalist who follows Hezbollah, said he did not expect the dispute to escalate.

Knight is the English term for a European social position. Knighthood is a non-heritable (with a few rare exceptions) form of gentility, but not of nobility. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the principal duty of a knight was to fight as, and lead, heavy cavalry (see also serjeanty); more recently, knighthood has been a title of honor, given to a more diverse class of people, from Sir Edmund Hillary to Sir Paul McCartney. By extension, "knight" is also used as a translation of the names of other honorable estates connected with horsemanship, especially from classical antiquity.

The history of knighthood involves, therefore, the history of the social institution, which began somewhat differently in the various European regions; the history of the word, and the corresponding terms in French and Latin; and the history of the technology which made heavy cavalry possible. ...

... From the 12th century, the concept continued being tied to cavalry, mounted and armoured soldiers, and thus to the earlier class of noble Roman warriors known as equites (see esquire). Because of the cost of equipping oneself in the cavalry, the term became associated with wealth and social status, and eventually knighthood became a formal title. Significantly the nobility, who at this time were also expected to be leaders in times of war, responded to this new class by becoming members of it. Nobles had their sons trained as gentlemen and as professional fighters in the household of another noble. When the young man had completed his training he was ready to become a knight, and would be honoured as such in a ceremony known as "dubbing" (knighting) from the French "adoubement". It was expected that all young men of noble birth be knights and often take oaths swearing allegiance, chastity, protection of other Christians, and respect of the laws laid down by their forebears, though this varied from period to period and on the rank of the individual.

The Knights Templar were the most powerful military monastic order which took part in the Crusades. The Knights Templar were formed from several groups of knights by Hugh de Payens for the express purpose of protecting Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land. The incorporation of these groups of knights created a powerful military force which formed the nucleus of the Crusading Army. However, these military aspects only formed a portion of their identity. The order adopted a monastic way of life based on that of St. Benedict when not in battle. This dual identity brought about the famous description of them as "fiercer than lions and gentler than lambs." The monastic life of the Knights Templar granted them the peace of mind and soul to fulfill their prescribed mission. The military successes of the Knights Templar were numerous, especially in the Third Crusade where they fought in the ranks at Arsuf under Richard the Lionhearted. The Knights Templar fought fiercely against Saracen encroachment into territory held by the Latin Kingdoms of Palestine, but were driven into Cyprus when Acre fell in 1291. From Cyprus, the Knights Templar achieved financial success which in turn brought them the wrath of King Philip IV of France. The order was persecuted from 1308-1314 and destroyed with the death of the last Grandmaster, Jaques de Molay.

The 19-minute message shows an old still photo of bin Laden in a split-screen next to images of al-Zarqawi taken from a previous video. A voice resembling bin Laden's narrates a tribute to the Jordanian-born militant, who was killed in a June 7 airstrike northeast of Baghdad.

Evan Kohlmann on MSNBC: Tape doesn't indicate that any incidents are on the horizon - OBL is jumping on Zarqawi's coattails and using his legacy - ironic since OBL always had problems and Zarqawi is more useful to OBL dead - the tape is subtitled only in arabic, so the intended audience are those primarily supportive of Al Qaeda in Mideast (tapes intended for the West are subtitled in English and American recruits are used in producing these tapes) - OBL is saying Zarqawi's death is only a bump in the road and a sign of moving towards victory, and Al Qaeda appreciates Zarqawi's role - Zarqawi is the "rock star" and Iraq became the front line since the US arrived there - Americans have nothing to fear from this but it was intentionally put out in time for July 4th, as OBL and Al Qaeda are very media-savvy.